The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (as amended) came into force
on 1 October 2011.
Under the Regulations, after 12 weeks of continuous employment,
agency workers are entitled to terms and conditions that are no
less favourable than employees who they are working alongside on
similar work who are not agency staff. This includes
conditions such as pay, rest breaks and holidays. Agency
workers will also be entitled to take time off work for ante-natal
appointments on similar conditions as non agency workers, and
should be paid at the normal hourly rate by the agency for this
time off.
It is important to note that the Regulations are not
retrospective; for agency workers who were already on an
engagement, the 12 week qualifying period began to run from 1
October 2011, and not the date on which their engagement
commenced. The Regulations also contain anti-avoidance
provisions designed to prevent assignments from being structured in
such a way as to circumvent the
